catfishing

{{About|the online deception activity|manipulation of a cat toy on a string|Cat play and toys#Defining cat play}}

alt=Two people obscuring their faces with festive masks during a [[Carnival celebration.|thumb|Similarly to a traditional Carnival celebration involving attendees masking their faces, the Internet allows catfishers to mask their true identities.]]

Catfishing refers to the creation of a fictitious online persona, or fake identity (typically on social networking platforms), with the intent of deception,{{Cite book |last1=Chandler |first1=Daniel |title=A Dictionary of Social Media |last2=Rod Munday |date=March 2016 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-180309-3 |edition=First |location=Oxford |oclc=952388585}} usually to mislead a victim into an online romantic relationship or to commit financial fraud,{{Cite news |last=D'Costa |first=Krystal |title=Catfishing: The Truth About Deception Online |url=https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/anthropology-in-practice/catfishing-the-truth-about-deception-online/ |access-date=2024-01-07 |work=Scientific American Blog Network |language=en}} such as the pig butchering scam. Perpetrators, usually referred to as catfish, generally use fake photos and lie about their personal lives to present themselves as more attractive for financial gain, personal satisfaction, evasion of legal consequences, or to troll.{{Citation needed|date=January 2024}} They often love bomb the victim, but refuse to have video call or talk on the phone so that they can not be verified, their IP address does not match the city of their supposed location, refuse or repeatedly postpone meeting in person, have inconsistencies with name, pictures, or information appearing on their profiles, or request money while isolating victims from real-life social circles by insisting the relationship remain a secret. Public awareness surrounding catfishing has increased in recent years, partially attributed to an increase in the occurrence of the practice combined with a number of high-profile instances.{{Cite web |date=2022-12-16 |title=I-Team: New data shows more young people are getting catfished - CBS Texas |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/younger-people-getting-catfished/ |access-date=2023-12-22 |website=www.cbsnews.com |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=2022-08-25 |title=Where is Manti Te'o, NFL star and subject of Netflix's Untold, now? |url=https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/celebrity/article/3190151/where-manti-teo-now-nfl-star-was-famously-catfished-while |access-date=2023-12-22 |website=South China Morning Post |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=5 Celebrities Who Have Been Catfished |url=https://www.mtv.co.uk/news/jgr5px/5-celebrities-who-have-been-catfished |access-date=2023-12-22 |website=MTV |language=en}}{{Cite magazine |date=2022-08-23 |title=Danielle Fishel Reveals She Was Catfished by Adult Man When She Was 12 |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2022/08/danielle-fishel-catfish-stalker-12-years-old-pen-pal-boy-meets-world-pod-meets-world |access-date=2023-12-22 |magazine=Vanity Fair |language=en-US}}

Etymology

The term was introduced with the release of the 2010 American documentary film Catfish, following executive producer Nev Schulman, himself a victim of catfishing. Schulman had developed an online friendship with a 40-year-old housewife mainly presenting herself as an 18-year-old girl from the Midwestern United States. In the documentary, the woman's husband compares her behavior to that of a catfish being shipped with live cod.{{Cite web |last=Hill |first=Kashmir |title=The Manti Te'o Hoax Means Everyone Now Knows What A 'Catfish' Is |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2013/01/22/the-manti-teo-hoax-means-everyone-now-knows-what-a-catfish-is/ |date=2013-01-22 |access-date=2024-10-20 |url-status=live |archive-date=January 24, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130124084947/https://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2013/01/22/the-manti-teo-hoax-means-everyone-now-knows-what-a-catfish-is/ |website=Forbes |language=en}}

This urban legend originated from Essays in Rebellion (1913) by Henry Nevinson and The Catfish (1913) by Charles Marriott and refers to the practice of placing a catfish in a tank full of cod for the purposes of shipping. The impostor, or catfish, is said to prevent the cod from becoming pale and lethargic, ensuring the delivery of a high-quality product.{{Cite news |last=McCarthy |first=Ellen |title=What is catfishing? A brief (and sordid) history. |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2016/01/09/what-is-catfishing-a-brief-and-sordid-history/ |access-date=2020-11-11 |issn=0190-8286}}{{Cite web |last=Harris |first=Aisha |date=January 18, 2013 |title=Catfish meaning and definition: term for online hoaxes has a surprisingly long history |url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2013/01/18/catfish_meaning_and_definition_term_for_online_hoaxes_has_a_surprisingly.html |access-date=2015-09-23 |website=Slate}}{{Cite web |date=November 26, 2012 |title=Why is MTV's 'Catfish' TV show called Catfish? |url=http://starcasm.net/archives/184454 |access-date=2015-09-23 |website=starcasm.net}} Catfish: The TV Show, airing on MTV since 2012, follows Schulman as he helps others investigate possible catfish situations.{{Cite web |last=Martin |first=Denise |title=Here's How MTV's Catfish Actually Works |url=http://www.vulture.com/2014/05/catfish-mtv-casting-production-process.html |access-date=6 April 2018 |work=Vulture|date=21 May 2014 }}

The term spiked in popularity in 2013 after University of Notre Dame football star Manti Te'o was publicly catfished.{{Cite news |last=Zimmer |first=Ben |date=January 27, 2013 |title=Catfish: How Manti Te'o's imaginary romance got its name |work=The Boston Globe |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2013/01/27/catfish-how-manti-imaginary-romance-got-its-name/inqu9zV8RQ7j19BRGQkH7H/story.html |access-date=2015-09-23}} The 2013 court case Zimmerman v. Board of Trustees of Ball State University saw the first legal use of the term catfishing, with the judge using the Urban Dictionary definition.{{cite journal |last1=Smith |first1=Lauren Reichart |last2=Smith |first2=Kenny D. |last3=Blazka |first3=Matthew |date=31 January 2017 |title=Follow Me, What's the Harm? Considerations of Catfishing and Utilizing Fake Online Personas on Social Media |journal=Journal of Legal Aspects of Sport |volume=27 |issue=1 |page=36 |doi=10.1123/jlas.2016-0020|doi-access=free }}

Catfish was added to the eleventh edition of the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary in 2014.{{cite web |title=Merriam-Webster's New Words for 2014 |url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/new-words/2014-update.htm |website=Merriam-Webster Online |publisher=Merriam-Webster |access-date=3 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140520032414/http://www.merriam-webster.com/new-words/2014-update.htm |archive-date=20 May 2014 |date=May 19, 2014}} An associate editor at Merriam-Webster noted that the word was "such a sensation from the moment that it came on the scene," attributing its popularity to both Schulman's documentary and the Manti Te'o story.{{cite web |last1=Cosman |first1=Ben |title=Merriam-Webster Tells Us Why 'Catfish' and 'Yooper' Just Entered the Dictionary Together |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2014/05/merriam-webster-tells-us-why-catfish-and-yooper-just-entered-the-dictionary-together/371175/ |website=The Wire |publisher=The Atlantic |access-date=3 January 2024 |language=en |date=19 May 2014}}

Practice and sociology

Catfishing is often employed on dating websites, social media, and email{{Cite web |last=Australian Competition and Consumer Commission |date=2015-05-14 |title=Dating & romance |url=https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/types-of-scams/dating-romance |access-date=2020-11-11 |website=Scamwatch |language=en}} by perpetrators to disassociate from their real-life identities and shield themselves from moral obligations or responsibilities. Motivations for catfishing are typically malevolent and may include sexual, financial, or social gain.{{Cite web |last=Vanman |first=Eric |date=25 July 2018 |title=It's not about money: we asked catfish why they trick people online |url=https://theconversation.com/its-not-about-money-we-asked-catfish-why-they-trick-people-online-100381 |access-date=17 December 2023 |website=The Conversation}} The practice is often attributed to the online disinhibition effect.{{Cite web |title=The Psychology of Cyberspace – Home Page/Table of Contents |url=http://truecenterpublishing.com/psycyber/psycyber.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130619044045/http://truecenterpublishing.com/psycyber/psycyber.html |url-status=usurped |archive-date=June 19, 2013 |access-date=2020-11-25 |website=truecenterpublishing.com}} Typically, the catfish uses someone else's photos and personal details to make themselves appear genuine, while the individual whose identity is being exploited is unaware that their information is being used.{{Cite web |last=Lohmann |first=Raychelle |title=The Two-Sided Face of Teen Catfishing |url=https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/teen-angst/201304/the-two-sided-face-teen-catfishing |access-date=6 April 2018 |publisher=Psychology Today}}

In certain cases, catfishing is used as a means for individuals to explore and express their gender and sexual identity, particularly in online environments conducive to anonymity. Commonly, perpetrators will portray themselves as the opposite gender on social media and dating apps to interact with unsuspecting individuals.{{Cite book |last1=Slade |first1=Alison F. |title=Reality Television: Oddities of Culture |last2=Narro |first2=Amber J. |last3=Buchanan |first3=Burton P. |date=2014 |publisher=Lexington Books |isbn=978-0-7391-8564-3 |pages=237–244 |name-list-style=amp}}

Perpetrators of catfishing are often seeking financial gain. In 2015, three girls managed to steal $3,300 from the Islamic State after being approached by a recruitment officer to join the terrorist organization. After receiving money for supposed travel to Syria, the girls deleted their account and kept the money for personal travel.{{Cite news |date=2015-07-30 |title=Young women 'catfished' ISIS out of $3,300. Will they be punished? |work=Christian Science Monitor |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-News/2015/0730/Young-women-catfished-ISIS-out-of-3-300.-Will-they-be-punished |access-date=2021-11-03 |issn=0882-7729}}

Catfishing has also been used as a tactic to stop criminal activity. In 2004, Dateline NBC produced the segment To Catch a Predator, documenting undercover officers using fake online profiles to lure potential sexual predators into spaces where meetings with supposed minors had been arranged.{{Cite web |title="To Catch A Predator" - Chris Hansen - NBC Dateline · Undercover Reporting |url=https://undercover.hosting.nyu.edu/s/undercover-reporting/item-set/50?sort_by=numeric:timestamp:7&sort_order=asc |access-date=2024-10-20 |website=undercover.hosting.nyu.edu}}

Catfishing can also be used as a tactic to cyberbully or attack individuals online while working under a false identity, making the harassment difficult to trace.{{Cite conference |last1=Olckers |first1=Christine |last2=Hattingh |first2=Marie |date=2022 |title=The Dark Side of Social Media - Cyberbullying, Catfishing and Trolling: A Systematic Literature Review |language=en |pages=86–71 |doi=10.29007/qhl5 |issn=2398-7340 |doi-access=free |book-title=Proceedings of the Society 5.0 Conference 2022 - Integrating Digital World and Real World to Resolve Challenges in Business and Society|hdl=2263/91093 |hdl-access=free }}

Signs

While catfishing can take many forms, some common behaviors and characteristics have been defined:

Refusal to video chat or talk on the phone.{{Cite web |last=Corcione |first=Adryan |date=2017-09-17 |title=Catfished Meaning: 14 Signs You're Getting Catfished Online |url=https://www.teenvogue.com/story/signs-youre-being-catfished |access-date=2024-06-11 |website=Teen Vogue |language=en-US}}
When using peer-to-peer chat or video chat, their IP address does not match the city or state of their supposed location.
Refuses or repeatedly postpones meeting in person, often at the last minute with increasingly elaborate, contradictory, or impossible excuses (e.g. attending a concert that doesn't exist, or are quarantined with a non contagious disease).
Follow requests and/or messages from unknown persons, sometimes impersonating a celebrity, often marked by low follower count and lack of account verification.{{Citation needed|date=January 2024}}
Inconsistencies with names, pictures, or information appearing on profiles that ostensibly belong to the same individual.
Photo backgrounds are inconsistent with their supposed locations.
Love bombing.
Requesting money, usually justified with a backstory and/or promise of repayment.{{Cite web |title=How to spot a catfish – catfish meaning and advice |url=https://www.ageuk.org.uk/information-advice/money-legal/scams-fraud/how-to-spot-a-catfish/ |access-date=2023-09-18 |website=Age UK |language=en-GB}}
Isolation of victim from real-life social circles and/or insisting the relationship remain a secret.

Dangers

Catfishing can lead to serious potential dangers. In some cases, catfish have lured victims into threatening in-person meetings, such as in the 2002 murder of Kacie Woody and the 2007 murder of Carly Ryan. Sexual predators utilize catfishing to gain the trust of minors and/or other vulnerable people to acquire sensitive information and illicit photographs.{{Cite web |last=Lohmann |first=Raychelle |title=The Two-Sided Face of Teen Catfishing |url=https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/teen-angst/201304/the-two-sided-face-teen-catfishing |access-date=29 March 2018 |publisher=Psychology Today}} Catfishing has also been linked to a number of suicides, such as the 2006 suicide of Megan Meier.{{Cite web |last=Patchin |first=Justin W. |date=2013-02-07 |title=Catfishing as a Form of Cyberbullying |url=https://cyberbullying.org/catfishing-as-a-form-of-cyberbullying |access-date=29 March 2018 |publisher=Cyberbullying Research Center}}

References

External links

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Category:Deception

Category:Internet fraud

Category:Social networks

Category:Cyberstalking

Category:Online child abuse